A new take on vampires, anyone?
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Indigo, UK
My ratings: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Released: 3rd of September, 2013
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown had got a lot of hype over the blogosphere and when I got my hands on it, I squealed like a little girl as I finally had in my possession what everyone wanted.
For some reason, even after reading the blurb I did not expect The Coldest Girl in Coldtown to be a vampire novel. I know silly me, but I was pleasantly surprised when I did realise that it indeed was one and it piqued my curiosity. It starts off with Tana waking up at a friend’s party and finding out everyone has been killed by vampires. In her world vampire run loose but they have agreed to quarantine themselves in cities called Coldtowns where they live ‘peacefully’ running their own reality shows and they all are celebrities. Vampire bites don’t kill you straight away, instead you get an incubation period in which if you drink human blood you will become a vampire.
So when Tana wakes up and finds only one survivor of the massacre, she ends up rescuing him and a vampire and somehow manages to get infected in the process. Having no choice left, she decided to apprehend herself into coldtown to await her and her friend’s transformations into vampires.
The world building was great and I felt how spooky and dangerous the current world was. It was a new take on the vampire’s myth, taking and folding a new story into it. What I really enjoyed was the narration. The many POV’s gave a glimpse to the various characters and some of them had interesting back stories which explained a little about them while intensifying the mystery as to their behaviour.
Holly Black managed to end each chapter with a cliff hanger or a revelation which had you turning the page to the next chapter to find out what happened next. The story was fast paced at the beginning, however it slowed down considerably in between which let my interest falter. Tana was strong- willed, stubborn with a mind of her own but at times she came across a little boring. She did not annoy me but she did not seem memorable to me either.
The character I did find intriguing was Gavriel. Dangerous bad boy who was broody at times and barking mad the other, was what kept me going. There was romance but not too much to stifle nor too little to keep the romance junkie in me pleased.
The biggest let down for The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was the ending. The ending scene felt a little hurried and out of character.
Overall, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown felt like a good book. The story was fast paced and the new take on vampires was elegantly done. I may not have been enchanted by it but it was appealing, raw with a bit of gore thrown it. Some of the side characters I hated with a passion (called Midnight). I was pleased that Holly Black did not hold back the gore factor and the innards, blood and organs thrown about gave me great visuals.
I’d recommend The Coldest Girl in Coldtown to all vampire fantasy fans who are now trying to find a good book about them, which is paints them in their true picture as dangerous, mad creatures.
Advanced proof provided by Indigo, UK
Releases 3rd of September, 2013
3 comments:
I didn't expect this to be a vampire novel either until I started reading reviews on it. And the reviews I've read have been all over, I read a 1 star, 3 stars, and 5 stars. This is definitely one of those books I'm going to have to try out for myself.
~Andrea @ Beauty but a Funny Girl
Glad you liked it! I'm probably going to order this one soon because I'm so enchanted by Holly Black's writing. If it's anything like White Cat, it's right up my alley. Great review!
"The biggest let down for The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was the ending." I 100 percent agree with you! I was like...the waaaa. No way was that the ending! I mean, like there will be more right? I'm still debating my review!
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